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Archive for August, 2010
As it was known, Oakland had until today to remove five players from their 80-man roster, down to 75 players. Today, the last player was named. The five removed were Tony Stewart, Chane Moline, Allen Smith, Paul Hubbard and now Eric Butler. With the players, most were camp bodies, with a limited time to make enough impression to make the club. Tony Stewart, was a player with some caliber for the Raiders, known for his special teams play, but also a Tight End on call if a double set was needed. For all these players, a little slide show. And ...
Last year, the Oakland Raiders had four different quarterbacks take a snap in a regular season game.  One reason was poor play, the other three were from injuries.  Our quarterbacks were called "injury-prone" by critics, but maybe something else was at fault here. A new quarterback is in Oakland, Jason Campbell.  When the Raiders hosted the 49ers in Week 3 of the preseason, Campbell was knocked out of the game after being hit and laying motionless on the ground for five minutes. The real reason Oakland has a revolving door at quarterback is the offensive line.  Anybody can tell you that the ...
The season is upon us. The final dress rehearsal is in the books. Let's take a look at what we now know about the 2010 Oakland Raiders.This will be a breakdown of the good, the bad and the ugly. It's not to be taken negatively, as there's not a more positive or optimistic person than me when it come to the Raiders.Just one man's opinion, feel free to agree or disagree.Begin Slideshow
Lost in the mix of hypemen such as Bruce Gradkowski, Darren McFadden and Chaz Schilens is the Raiders statistically best Wide Receiver, fourth year pro Johnnie Lee Higgins. In his entire career Higgins has made one critically unforgivable mistake we'll call "Weddlegate." Despite the electrifying returns, deceptive speed, and skill that made him a star and clearly the best Raider WR in 2008, Higgins has remained in the doghouse of the ever incompetent Tom Cable and consequently Raider Nation. Higgins was just as responsible for the Raiders late season emergence in 2009 as Bruce Almighty was, reeling in clutch catch after clutch down ...
A cup with the Oakland Raiders logo was set on a desk. Students began to tell the professor what they saw. Here are some of the responses: One student said he saw a depressed man. A student said he saw a very aggressive man. Another student said he saw a man who had been beheaded. Another student said he saw a strong warrior. A student saw a shield And, the perceptions went on and on. An article on the logo was read to them. The idea was to inspire them to see deeply, as we sometimes see different things in artwork. We see the Oakland Raiders logo differently because what we see ...
In the offseason, the Oakland Raiders brought in a lot of new blood to improve the team, as well as create competition at some positions of weakness such as offensive line, defensive line, and fullback.However, other positional battles have emerged throughout the preseason, and the starting lineup on both sides of the ball is far from settled at this point.While the most heated battle for a starting spot remains the four-man cluster at fullback, there are other spots on the football field that the Raiders need to shore up before the season starts.Fortunately, many of the new challengers to the incumbents possess talent. Unfortunately, ...
In 1995, the owner of the Oakland Athletics, Walter Hass Jr., died. Successors Stephen Scott and Ken Hofman had watched Hass spend an abundant amount of money on players, and they wanted to go into an entirely different direction. The duo immediately implored then-general manager Sandy Alderson to become cost-effective—to slash payroll, focus more on the farm system’s development, and abide by sabermetric principles in obtaining relatively undervalued players. Alderson did what they said, but it didn’t translate into success. The Athletics had losing records from the time the new mindset was put in place until his departure after the 1997 season. Billy ...
Moneyball is a baseball film starring Brad Pitt and Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, and it's set to open sometime in 2011. Hoffman will perform as former big league manager Art Howe, and Pitt -- one of the most famous people in the universe -- will be playing Billy Beane, the "mastermind" general manager of the Oakland A's. Can you imagine that? Beane has been so successful in Oakland that a movie is being made about his innovations and triumphs as the A's leading man. Not only is the film being made, but Beane's character was given to one of the most ...
Ever since the New England Patriots were outed in 2007 for stealing signals, I have had to ask a simple question: What is cheating? Don't worry Pat fans (aka, Patsies), I'm not here to rip the Patriots again. I would however like to discuss the broader issue of cheating in professional sports, and cite as an example the use of stickum by the Oakland Raiders. Amongst other famous plays (or infamous, depending on how you look at it), stickum serves as an indelible image of the Raiders attitude of doing anything to win. If you ask me, the primary reason why people ...
With the San Francisco 49ers Oakland Raiders preseason game in the books it's time to breakdown how the Raiders fared. Due to the Bay Area rivalry, this was the Raiders most physical matchup to date. There were a number of shoving sessions and trash talk. This was the closest you could get to a regular season game and the Raiders should come out better for it. Here are a few notes on the game.   The Good Jason Campbell looked very good during his time on the field, gaining 93 yards on six of eight passing. He looked to be in complete control on the first ...